


Give & Take

by doubleactionstrike



Category: Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider Den-O
Genre: M/M, Monster/Human Relationships, Other, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-17
Updated: 2014-11-17
Packaged: 2018-02-25 18:13:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2631443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doubleactionstrike/pseuds/doubleactionstrike
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Team New Den-O has been through a lot together (spoilers for Episode Blue).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Give & Take

Teddy was tall and Koutarou was seventeen before he finally caught up, horns and everything included. His last growth spurt before leaving high school threw off the balance again however, and then Teddy was the one who had to lean back a little to see eye-to-eye. When they fought they were even, like a partnership should be.

\--

Koutarou was human but Teddy wasn’t. It was easy to forget sometimes.

Teddy was so quiet that he blended into the background most of the time. Imagin didn’t have to eat or sleep but he did anyways, sitting beside Koutarou at meals and lying next to him each night. He didn’t wear clothes or grow hair, so it was no surprise that he didn’t mind when Koutarou said that he was through with dresses and pigtails (when the time came Grandfather had suggested Koutarou’s new name, but renaming Teddy was Koutarou’s job alone). Teddy went to the onsen often even though Imagin didn’t have to bathe. He liked t.v. and golf.

But Teddy was blue and horned, like an oni or a devil. He never blinked. He didn’t breathe. He had cold, tough skin. Sometimes Koutarou would press his hands against Teddy’s to make them warmer, but the heat always quickly faded. When they tussled it was obvious that Koutarou only won as often as he did because Teddy  _let_  him, because Imagin were inhumanely strong. 

Koutarou’s favorite way to tease Teddy was to grab his horns. Imagins’ horns were sensitive, Grandfather had told him, like dogs’ ears.

“Do you admit defeat?” Koutarou would tauntingly ask, and Teddy would let him win as many times as he wanted.

\--

Something had changed. Almost losing your best friend twice could that, Koutarou supposed, but he thought that their bond would be all the stronger for it. Surely Teddy’s gift meant that his feelings were the same? Instead, it felt like their whole dynamic had shifted; their comfortable familiarity had become awkward pauses in conversation, and there were no more friendly touches or play fights.

Teddy still looked after him, of course, from taking care of house-keeping to cooking meals to stopping stray soccer balls intent on flying into Koutarou’s face. He made tea, he sat with Grandfather for hours, and he lit incense for Great-Auntie. He was still the same polite Teddy, but he wouldn’t look Koutarou in the eye anymore.

A mature person would openly communicate their feelings, so Koutarou did no such thing.  _He_ shouldn’t have to say anything because Teddy should know him well enough to understand what he was thinking. If Teddy was going to be weird, then that wasn’t his problem.

\--

Days turned into weeks and neither of them wanted to be the first to break. By a month since team New Den-O’s return home, Koutarou’s moodiness was practically palpable.

There was one good result of The Time-Tripping Ride to Hell, as Koutarou liked to privately call their adventure to the past. He named all of his and Teddy’s adventures, except for the time Grandfather tried to give the two of them  _the talk_  when Koutarou was fifteen (that one remained We Are Never Talking About This Again, Teddy, Do You Hear Me). Before he had met the Ryoutarou from the past he thought tea-time with Grandfather was a drag, because Grandfather’s stories sounded so uncool and his Imagin incompetent. But meeting the young Ryoutarou had given him an appreciation for the older one’s company. Now that he and Teddy were on the outs, Koutarou spent hours each day with his grandfather, listening again to the old man’s stories about Den-O with an ear he didn’t have as a kid.

“Airi would have loved you,” Grandfather told him during tea one afternoon. “It’s a shame you never got to meet her.”

“I wish I could have seen Uncle Yuuto in action. He sounds kick-ass, like me.” Koutarou gingerly picked up the teapot, intending to refill Grandfather’s cup, and promptly spilled boiling hot tea over his hand. “Ahh-!”

“I think you have more in common with me, unfortunately,” Grandfather said, sounding apologetic. He took the teapot from Koutarou. Although his hands trembled with age nowadays he poured them both tea without any mishaps.

“Well, you were pretty kick-ass, too,” Koutarou admitted. “Even if Momotaros did most of the fighting for you.”

Grandfather chuckled at that. “Well, as I recall, Momotaros never turned into a sword….”

Just like that the entire mood soured. Koutarou was pouting like his life depended on it. Grandfather set the teapot back down. He had been right to suspect something was going on between his grandson and his Imagin.

 “Is something the matter with you and Teddy?” he gently prompted.

“NO,” Koutarou said, too loudly and too quickly. “GOD, Grandfather, you are so EMBARASSING sometimes." 

Grandfather wasn’t fooled. He had a good guess as to what the problem was. “Did you kiss him? Imagin kisses are weird the first time, I know-”

Koutarou’s face contorted in horror.

“Grandfather, WHY,” he moaned. “WHO were you kissing.”

“Momotaros?” Grandfather looked as bewildered as he sounded. “I thought that’s what we were talking about.”

Koutarou wanted to die right then, right there. “I don’t actually want to know about- wait. If you and Momotaros- then how did I- I DON’T want to think about this.” He dropped his head into his heads with a huff. “What makes you think that Teddy and I are… like  _that.”_

“Well, you’re very close. He said he gave you that necklace you’re wearing. And since Imagin fall in love like humans, I just assumed…. I’m sorry for embarrassing you.”

Sometimes it was hard for Koutarou to reconcile his memory of Ryoutarou with the image of his Grandfather, but right now he could see the shy young man still hidden underneath the surface.

“It’s fine,” he grumbled, feeling guilty for raising his voice at the old man. “I just could have gone without that mental image for my entire life.”

“But you two _are_  fighting?” Grandfather pressed, sounding concerned.

“No. We’re not fighting. We’re not  _anything._  He won’t talk to me anymore.” Koutarou sighed, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He could feel all of his pent-up negativity bubbling to the surface. “It’s like everything’s changed. I don’t know what to do.”

“...Have you tried kissing him..?”

“OH, MY GOD.” Koutarou exploded to his feet. “GOOD-BYE, GRANDFATHER.”

Koutarou fled the premises as fast as he could manage, running all the way home. He stomped to his room and slammed the door shut before flopping onto his mattress. There was no way he could face Teddy after that conversation. They were best friends and partners, that was it. The love charm had been a  _joke,_ hadn’t it?

Unless- unless it hadn’t. Was Teddy upset because Koutarou hadn’t acknowledged his confession? He must have thought Koutarou had rejected him. It all made sense now.

Koutarou buried his face under the covers. “I,” he declared into the mattress, “am the _worst_.”

There was only one thing to do, he decided. He and Grandfather were about to have more in common than even Grandfather knew.

\--

Koutarou was lying in wait when Teddy came in with the laundry. He had planned an apology but the way Teddy said “Hello” while steadily avoiding his eyes pissed him off too much for him to remember what he was going to say.

“Teddy-” he announced, taking the plunge. He grabbed the Imagin by his shoulders. “Look at me.”

“Do you need something?” For the first time in weeks Teddy was speaking  _to_  him rather than at him. It was thrilling. 

“Grandfather says kissing Imagin is weird,” Koutarou blurted out, unable to think of anything else to say. “And I want to try for myself, because I get what you meant with the charm now, and I can’t  _stand_  not being with you.” He took a deep breath and drew in close. “So let’s do this, partner.”

For a long, horrible moment Teddy just looked at him.

Suddenly Koutarou was afraid that he’d screwed everything up again. It was all over and it was his own fault. He started to pull away, but then his friend started laughing his funny Imagin laugh.

“Koutarou,” Teddy said fondly. “Don’t ever change.”

\--

Koutarou was blonde and Teddy couldn’t stop looking at him.

“It’s cool, right?” Koutarou asked anxiously, again and again. He had always wanted to try bleaching his hair but it was permanent. If anything went wrong, then the only other choice was a buzz-cut.

Teddy replied, “Yes, it’s really cool,” each time but Koutarou asked every day anyways. Teddy would tell him it was cool even if he had shaved his head, but maybe he just liked hearing the words.

\--

Teddy was above and Koutarou lay on his back. The mattress was flat and lumpy, like it had been as long as Koutarou could remember, but Teddy’s weight across his hips felt comfortable.

“Tell me what to do.” Teddy’s voice was as gentle as everything else about him, from his demeanor to his touch.

It was Koutarou’s idea, one he had wanted to propose for a while. Now that they were here, though, he was having second thoughts. He felt like shrinking up from stage fright. “Uh….”

Thankfully, Teddy understood his sudden hesitation. “It’s all right, Koutarou. We don’t have to do anything at all. Whatever you want is fine.”

“What do  _you_  want?” Koutarou asked. He wanted Teddy to enjoy himself, too. “Let me do something for you, this time.”

Teddy thought for a moment. “Is it okay if I touch you first?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

Imagin hands were bigger than human’s. Teddy’s fingers were too wide to run through Koutarou’s hair. He started with his face instead, laying his hand against Koutarou’s cheek to feel his warmth, tracing the line of Koutarou’s mouth.

“Is this okay?” Teddy asked.

“Uh-huh,” Koutarou breathed. Feeling bold, he took the opportunity to press his lips against the palm of Teddy’s hand. Teddy seemed pleased by that.

“Do you want to take off your shirt now?”

“No- don’t do that.” Koutarou recoiled, scrunching his eyes shut. “Don’t touch my chest, either. Please.”

“Here?” Teddy offered, tracing his hands down Koutarou’s sides instead.

Koutarou burst into nervous giggles. “No, no- that tickles.”

Teddy withdrew and shifted to lie beside Koutarou. “Well, do you want to touch me now?" 

Koutarou shook his head. He scooted closer, snuggling into Teddy’s shoulder. “Ah, you know what- I-I changed my mind. Can we just do this instead? This time?”

“Of course.”

“I’m sorry- this was my idea, now I’m chickening out-“

“It’s okay.” Teddy was patient, kind. “This is just fine.”

Koutarou still hadn’t gotten the hang of Imagin kissing yet, but he was getting better with practice. It was hard navigating the horns and beaky bits to avoid being stabbed every which way. This time he settled for just pecking Teddy on the chin.

“Good job, team,” he beamed. “We need a title for this adventure.”

“What about ‘nap time,’” Teddy deadpanned.

“Did you just make a joke? This really is a day to remember.” Koutarou buried his face into the Imagin’s chest. “Partner.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for a prompt on the Kamen Rider Dreamwidth meme. Hopefully it's what the asker was wanting!


End file.
